


Precious

by GarnetSeren



Series: Atomic Anthology [7]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Cute Kids, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, Expectant Parents, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Love, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Pregnancy, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 04:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GarnetSeren/pseuds/GarnetSeren
Summary: Inspired by a reader request, this is a collection of oneshots about Sole Survivor (Nora) and my favourite Fallout men being expectant/new parents. The chapters are as follows:Chapter One - A smirk tugged at the corner of Nora's mouth, as she watched Preston dithering at the door.Chapter Two - When their daughter first came into their lives, Hancock had been hesitant to pick her up, scared that he'd frighten her.Chapter Three - A sleepy smile pulled at Nora's lips, as she looked up at RJ, who's gaze flitted between her and the two young boys that had stolen his spot in their bed.Chapter Four - Nora had adored Nick long before she'd seen just how good he was with their children.Chapter Five -  When a pair of strong arms wrapped around her growing bump, Nora turned her head in time to capture Deacon's lips with hers.





	1. Preston Garvey

A smirk tugged at the corner of Nora's mouth, as she watched Preston dithering at the door. She'd waved him in a dozen times, but he insisted on remaining just outside the room, mostly standing at parade rest. He insisted that it was to ward off anyone who came looking for her, whilst Curie was carrying out the examine, but Nora saw through that. She never thought there would be a more nervous expectant father than Nate had been, but somehow Preston managed to beat him by a clear mile. Not that she could really blame him, Nora supposed. The last time she'd been pregnant there had been military doctors and pristine hospitals to rely on, now she was being attended to by a Miss Nanny turned synth, and planning to give birth inside the draughty walls of The Castle. Though oddly, Nora felt a lot more relaxed this time around.

“Everything is fine,” Curie said, in her accented voice. “Though I still insist on light duties until after the baby is born, and no more skipping meals, hmm?”

“It was an honest mistake,” Nora promised. “I just didn't realise the time.”

“Well, try not to make it a habit of it,” her friend continued, helping her sit up. “Your husband is a good man, but a worrier. Do try not to scare the poor dear again.”

“I am so sorry he dragged you all this way,” she replied. “I only said I felt a little dizzy.”

“It is no trouble,” Curie assured. “I had planned to come stay until after the baby arrives, this has just move my schedule up a few weeks. Besides, I would always prefer to be safe than sorry, especially with you, mon chéri.”

Nora gave the other woman a tight hug, before walking her to the door, where she stood side by side with Preston, until Curie disappeared around the corner. Once they were alone, her husband immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pressed a soft kiss to Nora's temple. She couldn't help chuckling. Preston was the consummate professional in public, always treating her as his General first and wife second. But the moment they were alone, or with a very select few of their closest friends... like Sturges, Nick and Ronnie... he was utterly adoring and very affectionate. He reminded Nora a lot of Nate in that way, and she chalked it up to being a military thing. However, where her first husband had been almost too scared to touch her whilst she was pregnant with Shaun, Preston was the exact opposite, and as he ushered her back into the General's quarters... otherwise known as their suite... his free hand was already beginning to rub soothing circles across her large baby bump. And true to form, their little one immediately tried to kick their Daddy's hand.

Even as she eased down into her favourite armchair, Nora couldn't help chuckling, and obligingly lifted up her oversized t-shirt, that had once been Preston's. Her husband knelt down by her side, his lips immediately pressing lightly against her abdomen that was now the size of a full grown melon. They stayed like that for several minutes, Preston murmuring against her skin to their baby, before he shuffled backwards slightly and gently tugged off her boots. A relieved groan slipped passed Nora's lips as he began to massage the aching muscles in her feet, easing away pain she hadn't even been fully aware of.

“You need to take it easy, baby,” Preston smiled. “You work too damn hard, and I say that as your husband _and_ your second in command. Let me and Ronnie take more of the burden, it's what we're here for.”

“If you keep throwing in these foot rubs, I'll take you up on the offer,” Nora teased, relaxing back into her chair.

Preston carefully raised her foot, before pressing a kiss to swollen ankle. “Anything for you, baby. You know that.”

 


	2. John Hancock

“Hey Sunshine, do you want me to take over?”

Nora smiled as Hancock whispered close to her ear, and tilted her face just enough to press a light kiss to his withered cheek, before turning her attention back to the little bundle of joy in her arms. When their daughter first came into their lives, he'd been hesitant to pick her up, scared that he'd frighten her. But their little Luna... because John had insisted Nora was his sun and the baby girl was his moon... had taken one look at her Daddy and demanded he picked her up; and for a six month old, she certainly knew what she wanted. But at that moment, Luna was half asleep and happily suckling on her bottle of donated breast milk.

“Nah, she's settled,” Nora murmured. “But your company is always welcome.”

Hancock wasted no time in perching on the side of the sofa, his arms moving to encircle them both; one hand resting on Nora's shoulder, and the other gently holding Luna's small foot. Sighing happily, she leant her head back to rest against him. She couldn't believe how content she felt. Because when Preston had first told them about a baby, miraculously found alive on a remote farm that had been hit by raiders, they'd been hesitant to act. Their lives were always so hectic, and Nora's work with the Minutemen often took her away from Hancock, who was tied to Goodneighbour a lot of the time. But as weeks went by and no one else was willing to take on the little girl permanently, they'd both caved at the exact same moment, and admitted to each other they couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of adopting her. They'd gone to collect the baby from her foster family the same day, and brought her back to the State House the following evening.

It had been two months since then. Two months since Nora had retired from the Minutemen and appointed Ronnie as her successor. Two months since she'd made her permanent residence Goodneighbour. Two months since Luna had made them a family, and two months since Hancock had asked Nora to marry him. Now tarnished silver bands sat on their ring fingers, and a third hung up above Luna's crib like a talisman. The three large rooms that had once been solely Hancock's, had been transformed into an apartment fit for a family; John had even decided to limit his drug taking to just the weekends, and only partook in the VIP section of the Third Rail. Nora hadn't requested either things, not wanting to change the man she'd fallen in love with, but it meant the world that he cared enough about them to curb his habit on his own accord.

“I hope you realise you two mean everything to me,” Hancock murmured, as he pressed a kiss to Nora's temple.

“I feel the same,” she admitted, smiling up at him.

And it was true. If it wasn't for John and Luna, Nora didn't know what state she'd be in. Because after destroying the Institute, she'd never forgotten about the little synth boy she'd encountered, but had never seen again. It had haunted her for a number of weeks, but her relationship with Hancock had bloomed from an unwavering friendship into something more during that time, which was quickly followed by Luna's rescue. To Nora, it almost felt that everything she'd gone through was finally at an end, and all the pieces of her broken life were falling into place; the last time she'd felt so content was just after she'd discovered she was pregnant with Shaun. Now that she had John by her side and Luna in her arms, Nora could actually say, that despite everything, she was genuinely happy.

 


	3. RJ MacCready

Nora cracked open a bleary eye, when she felt a warm hand gently card through her unruly hair. A sleepy smile pulled at her lips, as she looked up at RJ, who smiled warmly, as his gaze flitted between her and the two young boys that had stolen his spot in their bed. He had no hope of managing to squeeze in behind her, since the growing baby bump meant Nora took up a full half of the bed, whilst the two ten year olds hogged the other half. Duncan slept closest to her, his head propped up on his shoulder, though Shaun wasn't far away; with his arm thrown over his brother and his hand resting on Nora's pregnant stomach. And as she looked up at her husband, she could see how RJ melted at the sight. They were a strange family, she knew that. Each a single parent with a deceased spouse, with two remarkable boys between them; one who literally fought for his life against his own body, and the other who was a prototype synthetic copy of a son that had been kidnapped decades ago. But although they were far from conventional, Nora thought they were all the more stronger for it. And with child number three on the way, she couldn't help thinking that they were also strangely perfect.

It was a notion that somehow cemented itself even firmer in her brain, when RJ's small stature meant he did somehow manage to fit on the double bed with them; his head resting on her hip and his arm curling up over her side, so he could hold a hand of each boy, whilst his lips pressed a gentle kiss to Nora's growing bump. If she hadn't been so worried about waking the boys, she'd have chuckled. All they needed was for the dog to bound up on the bed like he often did, and it would have been a real full house. But ever since she'd gotten pregnant, the hound had insisted on sleeping at the bedroom door, almost as if he wanted to protect her. Which incidentally, was also the reason the boys were in bed with her too, since they'd heard her being sick and convinced themselves it meant something was wrong with the baby. Nora had only gotten them back to sleep by promising she'd see Curie in the clinic tomorrow, and that they could go with her. It was something she should have mentioned to RJ, but she felt so content, that she was more than happy to let sleep reclaim her. After all, if RJ was just getting back from his patrol around Sanctuary, it meant it was barely dawn. Granted, that was normally the time that Nora had to start her day, but since she'd retired from the Minutemen, and had even been temporarily relieved of her mayoral duties thanks to her deputy: Sturges, there was no actual need to be awake.

So she gently caressed each boy's face, before her hand found it's way into her husband's unkempt hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp. RJ gave a contented sigh, and nuzzled into her side. But as Nora's tired eyes closed, the sleepy smile on her lips got a little wider. When she first fell out of the cyropod two years ago, she'd have never imagined how her life would turn out. She would never have dreamed that the wasteland would become home, and she'd never have imagined there would be joy in her life, nor would she have ever imagined that she'd find love again. But now she was cuddled up with the three most important men in her life... with the fourth snoozing just outside the door... and possibly a fifth on the way. The boys were hoping for a sister, whereas Nora and RJ just wanted a healthy baby. Though with all the testosterone in the house, she supposed some feminine back up would be rather nice. But either way, boy or girl, the newest edition was really a little miracle to Nora. Because after losing Shaun the first time, she'd sworn she'd never have another. Then she'd met RJ, and their entwined paths had led them to their sons, and now with child number three on the way, Nora couldn't be happier. Outside might be a post-apocolyptic wasteland, but inside the room that she'd once shared with Nate, on a new bed that was barely big enough to fit all four and a half of them, she was in her own little slice of paradise. It was more than enough.

 


	4. Nick Valentine

When the sound of a baby crying broke through her dreamless sleep, Nora sat up automatically, though her tired brain got confused the moment a warm, masculine voice told her to go back to sleep. It made her frown, because Nate never woke up with Shaun, and even the times the baby woke and he hadn't actually gone to bed yet, her husband still got her up to deal with their son. So she opened her mouth to ask what was going on, when a cool metallic hand lightly squeezed her shoulder, that was left bare thanks to her tank top. Her tired eyes shot open then, and she immediately recognised her mezzanine bedroom in Homeplate. Well, hers and Nick's now, since the old detective had finally believed Nora, after the months she'd spent telling him she didn't care who knew they were partners in more than just a business sense.

“What's wrong, mom?” a sleepy voice called from the platform above.

Nick chuckled, even as he pressed a kiss to Nora's temple. “You go see to our shortstop, whilst I go check on our little pitcher.”

“If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were hinting for a whole baseball team,” she teased.

As Nora looked up into Nick's glowing eyes, she couldn't help curling her fingers around the collar of his once-white shirt, and pulling him down to press her lips sweetly against his. She'd adored the man... the synth... long before she'd seen just how good he was with their _children_. Plural. Because as if having a ten year old Shaun in their lives wasn't momentous enough, regardless of the fact the child was a prototype synth, they now had a baby to contend with too. Or as Nick had taken to calling them, their shortstop and pitcher; because Shaun was agile and a good catch, whilst their newest edition could launch a rattle clean across the room. Something they'd discovered in the first few minutes of the little boy being left on the agency's doorstep. Of course, they'd treated the mysterious arrival like any other case, with the addition of Nora taking the child home to look after whilst they tried to find the parents. They tracked down a terrified fourteen year old runaway, who was adamant she wanted nothing to do with the baby, and unable to leave either child homeless, they'd found a home for the girl with the Abernathy's, whilst Nora adopted the little boy.

Shaun had been thrilled to get a little brother, though Nick had still been best friend and partner, with a side of suspected mutual pining, at the time. But without Nora even asking, he stepped up to the plate in a _big_ way. He was around at Homeplate every day; keeping her company, helping with the boys, tidying up the place. He was an utter godsend. Because Nora had forgotten how hard looking after a baby was, and Codsworth was busy helping Sturges up in Sanctuary. But it was two weeks in, on a day where Nick had walked Shaun to school, before taking the baby to the agency to let a very sleep deprived Nora get some much needed sleep, that she finally cracked. As declarations of love went, she probably could have done better, made a bit more effort. But after waking from a blissful three hour nap, she'd quickly washed, thrown on the only item of clothing that hadn't gotten covered in baby puke... which happened to be a very creased pink dress... and thrown her hair up into a messy bun before heading for the office. And right there in front of Ellie, Nora had told a very bewildered Nick Valentine that she was hopelessly in love with him.

Their secretary and laughed with delight, and taken the baby over to Piper's to give them a chance to talk... talking apparently being the codeword for kissing your partner senseless, it seemed. Nora still couldn't be sure whether her or Nick had closed the distance between them, but they'd been together ever since. And two months later, he finally believed Nora that she was proud to be his girl; planting a kiss on him in the middle of the marketplace in broad daylight had certainly made her point. He'd moved into Homeplate that night, and 'Nora the single mom' became the unofficial Mrs Valentine. Though only unofficial, because Shaun insisted that his little brother be old enough to remember before they tied the knot.

 


	5. Deacon

Nora stood on the doorstep, waving goodbye to Blake Abernathy, who'd stopped by to drop off a bundle of baby clothes that Connie had unearthed for her, when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her growing middle. She turned her head in time to capture Deacon's lips with hers, which earned her a cute kiss to her nose, as his large hands splayed across her baby bump. He nuzzled the side of her throat affectionately, before whispering in her ear:

“Pregnancy looks good on you, Mrs Smith.”

“We're going with Smith?” Nora asked, chuckling.

“Why? Would you prefer Doe?” he challenged.

She outright laughed, shaking her head before turning in his arms. “You're a fool.”

“What? All great spies need mundane surnames to keep their covers,” Deacon stated.

“But we're no longer spies,” Nora pointed out.

The dopiest grin slowly spread across his face at her words, one that grew as he snagged her hands, and walked backwards into their modest farmhouse, that was situated on the very edge of Sanctuary. Once they were inside the relative gloom, Deacon removed his sunglasses... which Nora had discovered he wore to protect his sensitive eyes from the sunlight, as much as it was to disguise his face... before pulling her into a lingering kiss. She couldn't help the contented sigh that escaped her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It had been a year since the Institute had been destroyed, and six months since they'd both left the Railroad. The dog was out with Shaun, who was out 'working' with his favourite uncle... and surprisingly fellow synth... Sturges, and they finally had a moment alone. Or they had a moment alone for about another hour, when Nick was due to arrive for a supposed week long vacation, that was really an excuse to spend time with his godson one-on-one, before the baby arrived. He'd also promised to bring Nora some cases to look over, but that was besides the point.

“Also... Mrs implies a marriage, and there's been a serious lack of proposal,” she continued.

“You're right,” Deacon agreed, seriously. “But don't worry, I don't expect a pregnant woman to get down on one knee.”

They regarded each other for a heartbeat, before they both burst out laughing. And still grinning, Nora let Deacon pull her down onto their threadbare but comfortable sofa, where she snuggled into his side as curled his arm around her shoulders.

“Why not just stick with Deacon?” she asked.

“Would you really be okay with that?” he countered, pressing his lips to her forehead.

She shrugged. “We all know it's not your actual name, Dee. But why not keep it? It's part of our history.”

He gave a thoughtful hum. “So... Glory Barbara Deacon if it's a girl, and Nicholas Nathaniel Deacon if it's a boy?”

Nora smiled softly, as she snaked her arm across his toned stomach and whispered: “Sounds perfect to me.”

 


End file.
